Wu The story of the Wu-Tang Clan

As one of the most successful and influential hip-hop groups of all time, the Wu-Tang Clan deserves to have its story told with knowledgeable analysis, a smattering of musical performances, and solid biographical information. Unfortunately, this is not that film. While Barclay's documentary contains moments of interesting footage, primarily filmed during the early days of the band's success, far too much is devoted to superfluous, uninformative interviews with peripheral members of the band's community. Viewers will need to look elsewhere for a solid chronology and biography. Much of the latter part of the film centers on the 2004 death of the Ol' Dirty Bastard (Russell Jones), but even that portion fails to discuss in any detail the legal and personal issues that influenced his decline. The video production values are subpar, and the special features (apart from the included music video, Wu-Tang Is Born: Protect Ya Neck) are largely uninteresting. Not recommended.-Bill Baars, Lake Oswego P.L., OR (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.